Seahawks Notebook: Coaches can stake claim to NFL history

Updated 10:00 pm, Wednesday, January 11, 2006

KIRKLAND -- No head coach has ever led two different teams to a Super Bowl victory.

And of the eight head coaches whose teams are still alive in the playoffs this season, only Mike Holmgren has the chance to complete that double play this year.

But if Washington were to win, Joe Gibbs would deserve an asterisk. After all, he was away from the NFL for 11 years, leaving in 1992 and returning last season. He came back to the same franchise, but not the same league.

"I said roughly that I was starting all over again," Gibbs said. "I don't think the past buys you anything."

Before Seattle played in Washington earlier this season, Gibbs told reporters of his wife's first reaction to his return: "You're going to ruin your good name."

His first year back, Washington went 6-10.

"I told her, 'We're halfway there,"' he said.

Truthfully, Gibbs had a long way to go to catch up to the shifts both in terms of the salary cap and the strategy.

"I have said the NFL changes at roughly 30 percent a year," Gibbs said.

So by Gibbs' calculations, the league changed three times over while he was away and working as the owner of a NASCAR team.

Would Holmgren have a similar sidelight profession?

"I know he had to work hard in NASCAR," Holmgren said. "I think when I'm done with this, I'm not going to work that hard."

LOCKLEAR HURT: Right tackle Sean Locklear did not practice Wednesday because of a sore left hip. He has been added to Seattle's injury report as questionable. He watched the first part of practice and then left for the locker room.

Linebacker D.D. Lewis practiced and was working with the first unit. He did not travel for the regular-season finale after hurting his right foot Dec. 24 against the Colts.

"I'll eat my same peanut M&Ms and then go see what happens," he said Wednesday.

Big bag or small bag? "It changes," he said. "Depends on how the week has been going."

START FROM SCRATCH: Seattle has scored a touchdown on its first drive in four of its past five games of the regular season.

"That is probably not going to happen against these guys," quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. "These guys are very good defensively. I think we need to be ready to weather the storm a little bit in terms of not being as successful as we're used to being."

WEATHER OR NOT: After more than three weeks in a row of rain, it's worth asking how conditions could impact the outcome. Is it more difficult to handle a wet ball or cold ball?